Drilling apparatus



Sept. 3, 1940. w CARDWELL 2,213,362

DRILLI'NG APPARATUS Filed Sept. 16, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 3, 1940.

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DRILLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 16, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 l M/fzd/kzdwellmy@ J 3&3 Y mmf Patented Sept. 3, 1940 UNlTEl) STATES PATENT FFCEDRILLING APPARATUS poration of Kansas Application September 16, 1937,Serial No. 164,223

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in drilling apparatus, and ismore particularly concerned with reciprocating beams for Well drillingor potential pumping and suitable multiple speed drive connectionstherefor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel beammounting whereby the beam may be moved bodily transversely of the Workso as to clear the drilling tools as distinguished from the swivelmovement of the beam heretofore employed. More specically, the inventionprovides a transverse header of substantial length and a bearingslidably mounted upon the header and pivotally supporting the beam. Thebearing is connected with one end of an elongated screw threaded bar andmeans is provided for cooperating with said bar to move the bearing andbeam longitudinally of the header a substantial and suiiicient distancefor the working end of the beam to clear the Well hole when desired. Thebeam may thus be moved along the header lengthwise of the header insteadof being rotatably fulcrumed upon one end of a Samson post as iscustomary. Advantages of the foregoing construction are found in thefact that a unit employing the features of the present invention iscompact and sturdy as compared with prior beam drilling units andrequires but a minimum area for operation.

A further object of the invention contemplates the provision of meanswhereby the driving mechanism for the beam will not interfere withmovement of the beam relative thereto, and whereby it is unnecessarytodisconnect the driving means from the beam when it is desired to movethe beam out of or into operative alignment with the well for drillingor pumping. This object is obtained by providing self-aligning oruniversal bearings at the points of connection of the pitman with thebeam and driving crank or other rotatable member.

Another object is to provide a drilling and pumping beam and operatingmeans therefor which is attachable as a unit to any conventional singleor plural drum draw works but particularly adapted for use With devicessuch as described in Guier and Brown Patent vNo. 2,028,701, having avariable speed transmission so as to elect a beam vdrilling or wellpumping operation.

A further object and advantage is to provide a beam drilling attachmentwhich is so associated with the draw works that the draw Works may beoperated independently of the beam attachment for rotary drilling or thelike without necessarily removing the beam attachment.

A further object is to provide novel means whereby the beam attachmentmay be readily mounted upon and associated with the draw Works.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein a preferredembodiment of the features of the invention is selected forexemplication.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a drilling unit equipped with novelfeatures of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary View taken on line 2 2 of Figure 1illustrating the header with the l*- beam and beam bearing mountedthereon;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view at the rear of the unit of Fig.1 illustrating particularly the pitman and crank pin connection foroperating the beam; Y

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3 illustrating the connectionbetween the beam and pitman;

Figure 5 is a detailed section taken along line 5 5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a transverse section of the connection shown in Figure 5 andtaken along line 6 6 thereof;

Figure 7 is a detailed section taken along line 'I l of Figure l; and AFigure 8 is a transverse section of the connection shown in Figure ltaken along line 8 8 thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals areused to designate like parts, the unit illustrated is provided with-skid supports lil which serve as a base for the conventional draw worksdrums I2 and M operated in any suitable manner by prime mover I6. Whilea plurality of drumsare illustrated, the elements thus far ydescribedform no part of the present invention and any number or arrangement ofdrums may be used with any suitable base. Y-

The power unit i6 very desirably includes a variable speed transmissionsuch as described in Guier and Brown Patent No. 2,028,701 so that thespeed of the beam attachment which is powered from this source may bereadily controlled. Y

The beam drilling and pumping attachment is supported upon a suitablebase or skids indi? mover I6 of the draw works.

A pitman 24 is connected to crank pin.22 by means of the crank 26 whichis fixed at one end to the shaft I1 and at its opposite end to the pit-:'55 mission which transmission is attached to prime man 24 by means ofa self-aligning bearing 28, as best shown in Figure 3. Pitman 24 at itsopposite end is forked as at 3l] to receive an end of beam 32 and isoperatively connected to beam 32 by means of a self-aligning bearing 34.It will be apparent that self-aligning bearings 28 and 34 permit lateralmovement of the beam 32 with respect to pitman 24 and crank pin 22 tothe extent that the beam may be readily moved into and out of its normalvertical plane without disconnecting therefrom its operating pitman orwithout disconnecting the pitman from the crank pin.

Header board 36 is disposed transversely of the unit and supported byupstanding jack posts 38 and may, if desired, be tied down or furthersecured by means of suitable cables or the like 40. Header 36 may be ofsubstantial I-shape in cross-section and, in the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, is provided at its upper edge with laterally extendinganges 42 which receive the complementa] inturned flanges 44 of a support46 for beam bearing 48. At its forward end, beam 32 is provided with aconventional temper screw 53 for supporting any suitable drilling orpumping means (not illustrated) and is journaled intermediate its endsto trunnion or bearing 48 and its support 4B for rocking orreciprocating motion over the well or hole.

The purpose of mounting beam 32 in the manner illustrated and abovedescribed is to permit lateral movement of the beam into and out of itsnormal alignment with the hole to clear the tools or pumping rods orreturn them to operative itlon. It will be apparent that beam 32 and itsbearing 48 may be moved in their entirety laterally and transversely ofthe header 36 and to thus move the beam and its bearing, a screw 52 maybe provided which is xed at one end to bearing support 46 as at 5l?- andthreadedly received at its opposite end by sheave 56 xed on the headerboard which sheave may in turn be manually operated by sheave chain 58.

Figures and 6 illustrate in detail the selfaligning bearing indicatedgenerally at 34 for connecting beam 32 to the pitman 24, only the forkend 30 of which is shown, while Figures 7 and 8 illustrate in detail theself-aligning bearing indicated generally asI 28 for connecting,r pitman24 to the crank pin, and further showing tensioning means 29 which it isdesirable to employ for cooperation with bearing 28.

The operation of the foregoing construction is believed readily apparentfrom the illustration and description thereof, and the distance to whichthe beam may be transversely shifted with respect to header 35 withoutdisconnecting the beam driving means is determined by the length of theheader as well as the length of the screw 52 and the pitman and crankpin arrangement including the self-aligning bearings 28 and 34 abovedescribed. Moving beam 32 transversely of header 3S, as in the presentinvention, provides an important advantage over ired pivotal connectionsometimesl employed between the beam and the header in that the pitmanend of the beam moves only a fraction of the distance that the toolbearing end of the beam is moved and it is thus possible to employ avery sturdy swivel connection for the pitrnan, whereas pivotal movementof the beam would result in a lateral shift of both ends of the beam anequal `dis-- tance, and a swivel pitman connection employed therewith,because of its necessary ileXibility, would be incapable of satisfactoryoperation under the severe strains to which it would be ordinarilysubjected.

It is understood that the specific construction herein illustrated anddescribed is exemplary only of the principles of the invention which arelimited only by the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An attachment for use in well drilling and pumping comprising, aheader ol substantial length; a beam disposed transversely of saidheader; means plvotally and slidably supporting said beam on saidheader, said means including a bearing member secured to lower side ofsaid beam, a supporting member resting on said header having spacedarms, and means pivotally connecting said bearing member to said spacedarms; and means for moving said beam and slidable supporting memberalong the header in a direction lengthwise o said header, said meanscomprising, an elongated screw bar having one end thereof extendingthrough one of said arms and connected with said slidable supportingmember and a rotatable member on the opposite end oi said screw barcooperablc with said screw bar for moving said be m from a positionmedially of said header to a remote position adjacent one end of saidheader.

2. An attachment for use with a draw works comprising, a header ofsubstantial length adapted to be secured to a draw works; a rockablebeam disposed transversely of said header; means rockably and sldablysupporting said beam on said header, said means including a bearingmember secured to the lowerside of said beam, a supporting memberresting on said header having spaced arms, and means pivotsllyconnecting said bearing member to said spaced arms; and means for movingsaid beam and slidable supporting means along the header in a directionlengthwise of said header, said means comprising, an elongated screw barhaving one end thereof extending through one of said arms and connectedwith said slidable supporting means, a journal for the opposite end ofsaid screw bar carried by said header and a rotatable wheel member onsaid screw adjacent said journal operable to cause movement of said beambodily from one position to another along said header.

3. Apparatus for use in drilling and pumping wells comprising, a base,uprights on two opposite sides of said base, a header supported by saiduprights; a rockable beam disposed transversely of said header; meansrockably and slidably supporting said beam on said header; a screw barfor moving said means; a threaded journal member mounted on said header,one end of said screw bar being connected to said means with thethreaded portion of said screw bar extending through said journalwhereby upon rotation of said screw bar said beam will be shiftedlongitudinally oi said header; and driving means for rocking said beamon said slidable support including a rotary member, a pitman, and aself-aligning bearing connecting the opposite ends of said pitman tosaid beam and said rotary member, respectively, whereby said beam may bebodily moved along the header lengthwise of said header withoutrequiring disconnection of said p-itrnan from either said beam or rotarydriving member.

HARLAND W. CARDWELL.

